Not The Marrying Kind
by ilovetvalot
Summary: Rossi/Emily - What happens when David Rossi makes the mistake of telling Emily she wasn't the marrying kind? Please read & review. As ever I don't own Criminal Minds.


**Not the Marrying Kind**

Biting her lip, Emily Prentiss rolled to her side in David Rossi's luxurious king size bed, and drew her legs up into the fetal position. God, she hurt…not physically. Although a good slap might have been preferable. She could have hated him then. But, no, God knew, David Rossi would never lay a hand on any woman in anger. No. His carelessly spoken words had lacerated her just as surely as any physical blow he could have delivered. Swallowing convulsively as her salty tears cascaded down her cheeks, she shook her head against her pillow. "Stop it, Emily! Detach!" she ordered herself sternly. But it was useless, the blow had already been delivered. She wasn't "the marrying kind". Isn't that what he'd said with a chuckle? Closing her eyes, she forced herself to relive the conversation.

_Smiling as she'd let herself into the sprawling mansion that he had the audacity to refer to as "the cabin", Emily dropped her keys on the table as he'd appeared in the foyer's doorway._

"_Finally make it, huh?" he'd asked with a grin._

_Rolling her eyes, she'd nodded as she opened the coat closet and hung the bridesmaid's dress inside. "Yeah, finally. I thought we were going to have to peel JJ off that seamstress though. She made one too many references to our friend's ever expanding waistline." she'd laughed._

"_Ah, the joys of wedding planning," Dave had murmured. "I do not miss them," he'd said, walking back into the kitchen. _

_Following his footsteps into the warmly lit room, Emily had giggled. "Oh, come on, Dave, it isn't ALL bad," she'd teased._

_Shrugging negligently, as he'd lifted the bowl of salad and placed it on the table, he'd grudgingly admitted, "Maybe not. Definitely not something I'm interested in doing again though. Thank God you aren't the marrying kind."_

_That quickly her hopes had been dashed. A thirty second conversation had given her a startling insight into her relationship with David Rossi. She was never going to be more to him than whatever she was right now. Hell, she didn't even KNOW what she was to him. What did you call the person that had been sharing your bed and your life on a regular basis for the past year? Whatever it was, Rossi had made it clear hours ago that it would be anything more permanent. SHE wasn't the marrying kind!_

_Angrily swiping at the tears on her cheeks, Emily carefully wiggled out from under the arm he'd thrown over her waist in sleep, careful not to wake him. He'd known something was off when they'd gone to bed even though she'd forced her nerveless fingers to fork bites of the dinner into her mouth and chew mindlessly. They'd gone to bed quickly after supper and when he'd returned from the shower, she'd feigned sleep, the thought of his intimate touch both painful and unbearable. No, it wouldn't do for him to wake now. She needed time to prepare. She needed every moment she could find to convince herself that walking away from him was the only thing to do. _

_They wanted different things. That much was clear now. His words had made her choice easy, but nothing could lessen the utter ache in her chest. Because Emily Prentiss had to walk away. Again._

_***_

_Opening his eyes and blinking quickly, it only took him seconds to realize that something was wrong. Turning his head and seeing her dented pillow bare of her brunette head only furthered his supposition. Pushing himself up on an elbow, he looked around the quiet, dim room. Evidently, she was dressed, too since her clothes were missing from their usual place on his recliner. Not a great sign for his libido on this lazy Saturday morning. Pushing himself out of the bed, he padded into the attached bathroom and quickly took care of his morning ablutions._

_As he stood at the sink rinsing his hand, his eyes were drawn to his vanity. Furrowing his brow, he noticed that her toiletries had disappeared. Shaking his head in confusion, Dave quickly decided to find the mysteriously absent woman. Heading toward the stairs, he didn't slow even when the comforting scent of freshly brewed coffee filled his nostrils._

_Pausing at the kitchen door, he saw her hunched over the kitchen table, head resting in her hands, her go bag at her feet. Clearing his throat, Dave watched her jerk upright, her troubled eyes meeting hers. "Going somewhere?" he asked, nodding down at the bag beside her and trying to ask the question lightly, but knowing sounded gruff, even to his own ears._

"_Actually, yeah," she nodded, glancing down at the bag at her feet. Rising to face him across the room, Emily said quietly, "This is over, Dave."_

_He couldn't have heard her correctly. But seeing the drawn look covering her face, he knew he had. Still, shock forced him to make her repeat herself. "Excuse me?"_

"_I said that this is over, Dave. You. Me. US. We've run our course," she said, her words clipped._

"_And you suddenly decided this in the six hours we've been asleep?" he growled, narrowing his eyes on her. "You were fine last night, Emily. What the hell changed from then until now?"_

_Huffing out a harsh bark of laugh, Emily smiled bitterly. "Maybe I did."_

"_Obviously," Dave retorted sarcastically. Forcing himself to remain calm, Dave clenched his fists. "Start talking, Prentiss."_

_Oh, so he wanted to revert to distance by using her last name. Two could play that game. "Well, Rossi, I guess last night clarified a lot of things for me."_

"_Would you at least try to make some sense?" Dave asked, growing annoyed quickly. This was never how he'd imagined this day starting - with her leaving him. Evidently, for good. "What the hell is this about?"_

"_It's about us, Rossi. Or the lack of an us," Emily shrugged, turning away._

"_You're not making any sense!" Dave muttered, running a nervous hand through his head. "What the hell do you mean "a lack of an us"? We've been together over a year, Emily!" _

"_Together but never further apart," Emily murmured to herself. "Last night I realized that you were wrong. I AM the marrying kind! And the longer I stay here with you and live under this delusion that someday…maybe, you'll change your mind, the longer I give myself less than I deserve. I DESERVE to be happy! To have a husband and a family. I DESERVE that stability! And last night, you made it clear that wasn't what you were looking for, Rossi. That it wasn't something that I was ever going to find here with you. So, I'm cutting my losses. I'm out, David."_

_***_

_Staring back out her pale face, shock was a too mild a word to convey how David Rossi felt. Floored. David Rossi was floored. And speechless. He couldn't forget speechless. He idly wondered if the small woman before him knew how much talent she possessed to be able to do those two things simultaneously. Based on the impatient look crossing her face as she gazed back at him, he doubted it. _

_Finally, drawing on reserves of patience that he hadn't even realized he'd possessed, he slowly said, "So, you're mad at me…ready to throw away everything we are and could ever be…because I haven't offered you something that I was unaware you even wanted?"_

"_I've ALWAYS wanted a family! That isn't exactly a secret, Rossi!" Emily retorted, stiffening where she stood._

"_And I was supposed to extrapolate that you wanted that family with me?" Dave asked evenly. "You, who have taken every opportunity over the past year to inform me at every other turn what a bad risk I am?!"_

"_I never-"_

"_The HELL you never, Prentiss!" he exploded. "Do you think those backhanded insults that you toss my way just bounce the hell off me? You've told me on more than one occasion that I was one hell of a gamble. That you didn't know why you just didn't take your chips and clear off the table! I'm supposed to get that you want to marry me out of those kind of comments?" he asked incredulously._

"_I never meant -" she began, eyes widening as she looked at his tortured face across the room. "I never meant those things," she whispered. "I was trying to guard my heart, Dave."_

"_Back at you, Prentiss," Dave snorted. "You aren't the only one here that sometimes says things you DON'T mean in an effort to protect yourself!"_

_Caught off guard, Emily took a step back and steadied herself against the sink. "You didn't mean it?"_

"_Do I look like a fucking fool to you, Prentiss?" Dave hissed as he glared at her. "You think I don't realize what I have? How lucky I am? I'm not the one that has a problem saying "I love you"!"_

"_I DO love you," Emily shouted._

"_So much that you'd just walk out!" Dave spat. "You'd walk out without even giving me a CHANCE."_

_Licking her lips, Emily shook her head. "I didn't think there WAS any chance, Dave. I thought you'd already made those decisions in your own mind. Based on what you'd said, I thought it was a foregone conclusion."_

_Leaning back against the door frame, Dave blew out a long breath as he tried to get his heartbeat to slow. Looking at the ceiling, he said softly, "You thought wrong, Emily."_

"_I did?" she questioned, her voice small, and for the first time, uncertain._

_Meeting her teary eyes across the room, Dave nodded. "Yeah, babe, you did." Holding out his hand, Dave invited, "Come back to bed with me, Emmy. We need to talk some more."_

_Unwilling to cave easily, Emily shook her head. "We can talk here, David."_

"_We need to have this conversation upstairs Emily," Dave said firmly._

"_Why?" she questioned suspiciously._

"_First, because I need to hold you. Second, because there's something you need to see," he replied, walking across the room and reaching for her hand. Tugging her behind him, Dave prayed he was doing the right thing._

_***_

_A few minutes later, Dave nudged Emily lightly down to sit on his side of the bed. "Open the bedside table, Emily," he demanded._

"_Why?" she asked again._

"_Damn it! Could you, for once, just listen to me? Open the damn drawer, Emily!" he growled, running a frustrated hand through his dark hair._

_Frowning at him, Emily reached out blindly, jerking the drawer open. "There! Open!"_

_Blowing a long breath out through his nose, he begged God for patience. "Look inside."_

_Lips tightening, Emily lightly shoved him out of her way to bend over the drawer. "The only thing in here is a box," she grumbled._

_Rolling his eyes, Rossi growled, "Take it out and open it, Prentiss."_

_Rolling her eyes at him, Emily lifted the plain white lid and lifted another velvet box in her hand. "What's this?" she asked, gazing up at him._

"_Open it, Emmy. It belongs to you," Dave shrugged._

_Following his direction wordlessly, Emily stared blankly at the box's contents._

"_Well?" Dave muttered._

"_It's a ring," Emily said tonelessly._

"_Yeah, it is. It's an engagement ring, more specifically. Ask me how long it's been in that drawer, in that box, waiting for you. Go ahead, Em. Ask me. I dare you."_

_Closing her eyes, Emily breathed, "How long, Dave?"_

"_Six fucking months, Emily! Six months!" Crouching in front of her, he stared into stricken eyes. "Don't ever tell me that I didn't want to marry you," he whispered. "Because I've wanted you a hell of a lot longer than you've wanted me."_

"_I don't…I don't," she stammered, searching for words._

"_You don't what, Emily?" Dave murmured._

"_I don't know what to say," she whispered, her voice beginning to break._

"_Yes would be nice," he muttered._

_Lifting her eyes to his, she gently rebuked, "Can't. You didn't ask a question."_

"_You're a real pain in my ass, Prentiss," Dave declared gruffly under his breath._

"_I know," Em replied, leaning into his hand as he gently brushed his thumb against a tear that had managed an escape from her over-filled eye._

_Sighing, Dave whispered, "Will you marry me, Emmy and take a chance on a really old dog?"_

_Biting her lip, she nodded, tremulously answering, "Yeah. Yeah, I will."_

_Toppling her back against the unmade bed, Dave breathed against her parted lips, "Thank God! You're good, Prentiss. You've managed to nearly give me a stroke AND a coronary and it isn't even lunch yet."_

"_Not yet, but come back to bed and we'll see what I can do," she laughed, happily pulling him down to her._

_FINIS_


End file.
